A Very Cullen Christmas
by ForbalaTheGreen
Summary: title speaks for itself. this oughta be good, haha. a lil romance, mostly idiocy on the cullens' part for not having celebrated xmas in decades. they've sort of forgotten how. more details inside.
1. Christmas?

**I was decorating my Christmas Tree with my family and, of a sudden, I thought "I wonder what a Cullen Christmas would be like?" So, I opened my computer and listened to the family: Edward yelled how stupid this was; Emmett and Alice got all excited; Jasper was…well, Jasper—if Alice likes it, then so does he; Esme and Carlisle humored me, and Bella made Edward play along.**

**This is probably going to be very ADD, just warning you. I can't wait to see what idiocy happens in the Cullen home on Christmas! **

**Here goes! Enjoy!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER ONE: CHRISTMAS?

**BPOV**

As I sat on Edward's couch, curled half-asleep in his arms, an idea hit me. I sat up a little and looked at Edward.

"Yes, love?" he asked, knowing something was coming.

"Have you guys ever celebrated Christmas?"

He looked a confused. "No. Why?"

"I think we should do it."

"Why?" He looked at me, incredulous, as though it was the craziest idea in the world; he couldn't understand my reasoning at all.

"'Cause it'll be fun!" I was getting indignant now.

"Come on, Edward!" Alice was suddenly in the doorframe. Her hands were on her hips and she was pouting. At least she liked my idea.

"See, Alice agrees. Please, Edward?" I widened my eyes and tried to pout. It apparently worked, because he sighed and bowed his head in resignation.

"If the others agree…."

"They will!" giggled Alice. Sometimes, I really loved that gal.

Edward sighed again. He didn't seem to want to do this, but he would humor me, at least. And Alice was onboard. Emmett would join in, too, likely. I couldn't wait!

Next I knew, Alice was pulling me by my wrist down the living room. Edward was close on my heels, complaining at Alice:

"Why must you drag about my fiancée, dear sister?"

Alice ignored him and called everyone into the living room to tell about my plan. In an instant, everyone was gathered: Esme and Carlisle, snuggled on the couch; Rosalie sitting in Emmett's lap on the floor, her butt being goosed; Jasper, beside Esme on the couch; Edward, holding my waist; and Alice holding my hand excitedly.

"Okay, everybody!" Alice began. "Bella has had the greatest idea!" Then she motioned to me to begin.

"Um," I said, sort of embarrassed. "I was thinking that we could have a Christmas celebration. You know: gifts, a tree, eggnog, mistletoe…. What do you say?" I was slightly flushed, waiting for their reaction. Would they think it was stupid, like Edward had?

Emmett was first to speak. He stood, dumping Rose on the floor with a _thud_. "Awright! This is gonna be awesome! Let's go get a tree, come on, Rose!" He lifted her up by her arms, tucked her under his arm like a football, and was about to dash off. Luckily, though, Edward stopped him.

"Hold on, Emmett. Wait just a minute." Emmett sat dejectedly down, cradling an extremely angry Rose.

Esme smiled warmly and said, "That sounds wonderful, Bella. I think it would be great." Now that Esme, Emmett, Alice and Edward were onboard, Carlisle, Rose and Jasper had no choice. Christmas was a go!


	2. Shopping

**If I don't write specifically whose POV it is, assume it's Bella's. I will write EPOV or something if it's not hers. Just warning so you're not trying to figure out who's speaking and then you get to the end of the chapter only to discover you've been reading it from the wrong POV. I'm very familiar with this concept, genius that I am.**

**Anyway, here goes! Enjoy!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER TWO: SHOPPING

Since everyone had agreed, we were going to go to the Portland Mall and find Christmas decorations. We were currently on our way, Edward, Alice, Jasper and I in one car; Rosalie, Emmett, Carlisle and Esme in another.

Alice was babbling on about something or other; it had to do with clothes. I was looking down at my left hand, held safely in Edward's, and at the beautiful ring on the fourth finger. I couldn't believe I was getting married in only a short time!

Edward lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, then the ring. I smiled at him.

We arrived shortly at Portland and navigated to the mall. We dashed, in our large group of eight, into the holiday decorations store. Alice and I had already discussed and listed what we'd need to buy, and everyone had a list of things they were assigned to find. Of course, extra things were welcome.

Edward grabbed my hand and pulled my off to scratch things off our list. "What's first?" he asked me.

"Mm…a wreath." He spotted the wreaths and we looked for the biggest and best, as Alice would kill us if we got anything less. We decided on the one that had a larger diameter than Alice's height. It had a large red bow on the top and strung through it, and golden ornaments attached.

Edward carried it, as it was too big for me, and we continued with our list. We finished quickly and convened at the checkout. Alice had been assigned to ornaments, with Jasper to keep her under control, and she'd come with a cart three-fourths full of tree décor. I sighed and hanged my head.

We were out of the store in about an hour and forty-five minutes, fully stocked for Christmas. We delivered the things to our cars and split off, boys and girls, to do a little gift shopping.

After nearly three hours, we returned to the cars and drove back home. It was now four o'clock in the afternoon on a Saturday, and we had plenty of time to decorate. But first we needed a tree.

"Where's a good place to get a tree?" asked Jasper.

"Well, we could either go to a plant store or chop down our own," I said. I knew they'd choose the chopping option.

"To the woods!" screamed Emmett, pulling into his football-hold me, this time. That action allotted him a large smack on the head just before I was safely returned to Edward's ice-cold arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he held me bridal-style and shouted:

"Let's get going!"

---

We returned to the Cullen house with the biggest pine tree I'd ever seen in a private place. It had to be ten feet tall! We set it up in a holder that Alice had bought god-knows-when, right next to Edward's piano, and began to string lights on it.

We had all sorts of lights: coloured, white, red, blue, green, yellow, coloured bubble lights, candle-style lights…every kind you could imagine. It would look great once we finally plugged it in.

And then Alice brought something else out: _real_ flame candles, just the right size for our tree.

"Alice, tell me you're not going to put those on the tree." She smiled, which was a major "duh!". I sighed. "Alice, you can't do that, it's too dangerous. What if the tree, and then the house, catches fire!"

"Silly, I'd see that before it actually caught! And, even if I didn't, we can smell the smoke within an instant of ignition! It's totally safe!" I sighed again—she was right. There was no danger in it with those vampire talents and heightened senses.

Before we put the candles on, we donned the ornaments. Somehow, there were just barely enough to cover the tree properly. I couldn't believe it, but we should've let Alice get more.

She was more than up to the job. She was back in an hour, which had given us enough time to string lights on the outside of the house, hang garland on the stair rail and the wreath above the door—at human speed, of course. It could all have been done in a matter of moments at vampire speed, but where was the fun in that?

We finished with the tree decorations—all was left was the angel. It was a beautiful angel, a pale woman in a flowing red and white Renaissance dress with windblown brown hair. She looked a lot like me, and that was probably why Edward had chosen her.

"Alright, who's going to put on the angel?" I asked apprehensively; I was a bit afraid that Emmett would tackle me for it.

But, as Emmett was looking excited and about to pounce, Alice saved me and said, "Why don't we let Bella put it on, since Christmas was her idea."

Carlisle agreed, and Emmett looked about to cry. Edward snaked his arm around my waist while Carlisle went for a ladder. Once he was back, I climbed it, Edward following with his arms outstretched, ready to catch me when I fell—"_when_", not "if".

I reached the top of the ladder and stretched up, getting the angel in place. I felt Edward lift me up onto his shoulders so I could reach it easier. This was begging for disaster.

I leaned in far to set the angel on the highest, straightest, most vertical limb of the enormous tree and adjusted it until it was perfect. I leaned back and admired my handiwork. It looked good. Christmas this year would be fun.

But, of course, I couldn't handle the simple task of putting up the angel. Oh no, I had to lose my balance on Edward's shoulders and tip backwards. In an instant, I was falling to the floor. Half an instant later, I was in Edward's stone-cold arms again.

"Oh Bella, what will I do with you?" He kissed my hairline lovingly while the family broke out into laughter over my clumsiness.

"Yes, haha, let's all laugh while the human tries to off herself, very funny," I said sarcastically. Edward looked at me sadly—oops. I shouldn't have said I was trying to off myself.

"Edward," I said, "it was just a joke. I wasn't trying to kill myself. Really. What a boring way to die, and you'd have caught me—you _did_ catch me—so there's no point in that. I wasn't trying to die." I kissed his marble lips and felt him relax, and knew all was well again.

Edward waved a hand toward the stairs—how he held me and did this, I do not know—and said, "Shall we?" His face held possibility, a possibility that I both hoped and feared would involve us, nude on his bed.

"We shall," I agreed, smiling up at him. We were in his room in half a second, sitting on the ornate bed he'd bought.

"By the way, love, Alice has arranged for you to sleep here tonight."

"I don't think she likes me very much," I joked sarcastically, grinning. She had me staying over here so much, it was like I were already living here! "Is my bag in the bathroom?"

"Of course," he smiled. I stood to go shower and get ready for bed—it was nine o'clock and we were going to watch a movie soon, and I wanted to be comfortable.

But I felt Edward's icy hands on my hips, pulling me playfully back onto the overstuffed downy bed. His cool breath played in my ear, mere centimeters away.

"Who said I was going to let you go?" My face was instantly red as a pickled beet **[A/N: sorry, that's a phrase my mom uses a lot. She grew up in Hicksville, so…**. I wasn't sure whether I wanted do this or not. I wanted to do the wedding right, if I was going to do it…but Edward was freely offering himself. Oh! how to decide? **[That's supposed to be like that, BTW. I like that kind of writing, that's like, "exclamation" "exclamation point" "continue with sentence". I'm weird like that. I swear, I was born in the wrong era. I should've lived in the 1800s or something.**

I felt Edward's lips in the crook of my neck and forgot my name and internal battle. His arms were wrapped around my waist, holding me steadfast against his stomach. I leaned my head back and twisted it to kiss Edward's jaw while he continued along my neck, jaw line, ear, back down to my shoulder…. I was sitting in his lap, his legs keeping me in place, when I suddenly felt something against my butt.

Edward had a boner.

The surprise and humor of Edward, Mister Gentleman Among Gentlemen, having a boner, broke me from my trance. I leapt up and out, panting, clutching my chest.

Edward looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry, love, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"No, no, not that. I…dammit, Edward! Stop confusing me!"

"Pardon?" He was the confused one now.

"Well, if I'm going to marry you, I want to do it right: no sex until after the "I do" s. But you're seducing me and…oh god, I don't have that much will power, Edward." I was pleading with him. God, he looked so sexy, all flustered and depressed like that.

"I'm sorry, Bella, love. I won't do it again, promise." He stood and held up his hand in the Boy Scout symbol, showing his promise.

"Since when are _you_ a Boy Scout?" I said sarcastically, grinning. He smiled, knowing he was forgiven, and came to kiss my forehead. Then I was shoved into the bathroom, where I showered and got ready for the movie. Safely in my pajamas, I opened the door and stepped forward, knocking my head against Edward's stony chest, not having known he was there.

"Oof!" I grabbed my face, checking for a nosebleed. There was none.

"I'm sorry, love. I just couldn't wait to get you in my arms again." He kissed my hair, inhaling the scent. I wrapped my arms around his neck, was scooped up bridal-style again, and was taken downstairs to watch _Saved!_. I kind of had a small thing for Mandy Moore movies.


	3. OMG, Alice

**Sorry the title sucks. I couldn't think of a good title for this chapter. The chapters in this story are harder to name that those of my FB story.**

**Insomnia sucks. Never get it. It's 4AM, I have an exam in 4.5 hours, and I have been trying to go to sleep for 5-6 hours. I hate my life.**

**But your reviews make it better! Here's chapter three, reviews make me less sad!!**

**Enjoy!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER THREE: OMG, ALICE

After watching _Saved!_, I followed Edward up to his room. It was eleven thirty now, but I wasn't ready to sleep just yet.

I flung myself onto Edward's bed, lying on my stomach and resting my chin in my hands. He sat beside me and rubbed a cold hand along my back, massaging.

"Tired, love?"

"Nope," I said. "I think you're insomnia is rubbing off on me."

He sighed. "Love, you're human and you need sleep."

"Bah, I'll sleep when I'm dead—or not, haha." He didn't seem to like my little joke very much, and his hand stopped massaging my back, so I grabbed his free hand and kissed all the fingertips and knuckles and between his thumb and pointer finger. When his hand began rubbing my back again, I knew it was okay.

"What shall we do until you get sleepy?" he asked me. I pushed up on my hands so that I was close to his face.

"I've got an idea…" I said suggestively. He flashed my beloved crooked smile, and I was sitting in his lap in an instant.

"And what might this idea be?" He was an inch from my face, his cool, sweet breath making me dizzy.

"Well…" I suddenly jumped on the bed like a hyper puppy and shouted: "UNO!"

He raised an eyebrow and said, "What?"

"Let's play Uno!" I giggled, still bouncing. I saw him glance at my bouncing chest and sat still immediately. "_Pleeeease_?" I pleaded.

"Fine," he said, exasperated either by my excitement or my having led him on. Well, it's what he deserves for having dazzled and led me on so much.

He disappeared for an instant and was back with a deck of Uno cards. I squealed—I must've had too much Coke or something—as he began dealing.

We played for a long while—I don't know how long—but my eyes began to droop as he beat me for the third time. He took away my cards and set me under the covers. His cool lips touched my warm forehead and I was out like a light.

**xXx**

When I awoke next morning, it was ten o'clock and Edward was beside me, reading a book. I sat up and asked, "What're you reading?"

"To Kill A Mockingbird. It's one of my favourites." **[A/N: doesn't that seem like something Edward would read? It does to me.  
**

"Cool," I said as he set the book down.

"Would you like some breakfast, love?" he asked, scooping me up in his arms.

"I think I would," I smiled. In an instant, we were in the kitchen. I got out some cereal and ate quickly, then went upstairs to shower and change.

Once I was finished, Alice bombarded me. "Hi, Bella! Guess what time it is!"

"Certainly not Barbie Bella time, I know."

"Oh, pooh. You know you love it. Come on, now."

"Waah! Help!" I cried as she hauled me off over her tiny shoulder.

"Alice," Edward said as we reached her room in half a second. "You can't kidnap my fiancée."

"Stop saying that word," I complained while Alice was in her closet looking for clothes to force me into.

He kissed my cheek and said, "I'm sorry, love, it just sounds so nice. Not as nice as 'wife', but close."

"Ew. Why do you keep saying those words? Do you hate me that much?"

"If I hated you, would I be marrying you?" He kissed my lips while I shuddered at the word "marrying".

"Shoo, Edward. It's girl time." Alice was back with a wad of cloth. She set the clothes on the couch and shoved Edward out.

I groaned as Alice began reforming me.

**xXx**

When Alice was finished with me, I pretty much looked like a model, as per usual.

"So, Alice, I was thinking we could have a Christmas party? What do you think?" I asked her.

She responded by squealing, bouncing, and screaming, "YesYesYesYesYes!!" many times over.

"I get it, I get it, calm down!" I cried as she began twirling me at vampire speed.

She set me down and grabbed my wrist, pulling me to her car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To get invitations!" she said in a very "duh" voice.

I banged my head on the dash as we continued toward Seattle in her Porsche.


	4. Invitations

**Sorry my chapters are so short. I blame James Patterson! (-bows down to almighty James Patterson for creating the amazing Flock and more amazing Fang- -runs off to rape Fang-) Anyway, I'm trying to update quickly! Next chapter will likely be the party!**

**Here you go! Thanks for all the lovely **_**reviews**_**, feel free to leave more!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER FOUR: INVITATIONS

Alice and I were on our way home from Seattle with the invitations to our Christmas party. They were expensive, off-white, fancily typed, had matching envelopes, and read:

You are cordially invited to

A Holiday Celebration

At the Cullen Household on

20th December 2007

Between the hours of

7:00 PM and 11:00 PM

Please R.S.V.P. A.S.A.P.

At 228-5536

**[A/N: haha, that's ACULLEN, if you didn't catch that, haha**

Of course, Alice had gotten a month-long job accomplished in two hours. While the invitations were being done, Alice had taken me shopping—ugh. And we'd bought my party dress, too. It was from Caché Luxe: a red bubble dress that could go from strapless to halter top to cross-backed, etc., in an instant. There was a large bow in front. It came to my knees and the neckline flowed with my breasts' curves. It was actually very cute…if I remembered not to look at the price tag. **[A/N: isn't this dress **_**gorgeous**_**? I love it! It won't let me put the link up, but go to cache dot com, luxe, dresses, page 2, and scroll till you see the red one with the bow. You'll know it when you see it.**

But we were outside the house, now, and I was able to see my dear Edward again. Before I'd even finished exiting the car, I was in Edward's iron arms. I giggled and said:

"Hi, Edward, did you miss me?"

"You don't even know," he grinned, running his nose from my chin to my ear and back again and again….

"Ahem," Alice's voice cut in. Edward and I turned toward her. "We've got to get these invitations out, _fast_, if we want anyone to show." I could tell the whole household had a long day ahead.

And, of course, I'd been right: Alice had put the whole family to work addressing, sealing, stamping, addressing, sealing, stamping, addressing….

After what felt like months of Chinese water torture (even though it had only been about two hours of invitations) we were finished and Alice released us to ice our aching hands (well, in my case, at least. I don't know what the other did, nor, do I think, did I want to know, by the look on Edward's face at what Emmett was likely thinking).

"How are your hands, love?" he asked, looking slightly less disturbed. He must've finally blocked Emmett.

"This is the second time, haha. First Angela's graduation invitations, and now this! How many times will I have to do this?" I laughed.

"I'm sorry, love, I won't let any more invitations get you, I promise." He kissed my forehead. I took my hands from the ice cubes and wrapped them around Edward's neck—his skin was more than icy enough to heal my hands, and I liked this better, anyway. I kissed his wonderful lips.

He pulled me closer to his marble body and soon we were growing passionate.

He broke away and said, angrily, "Jasper, stop that!"

"Not my doing, baby brother!" Jasper said, but I heard him laughing.

"Sorry," I muttered, burying my face in his chest and trying to hide my blush.

He chuckled. "It's alright, I'll just have to kill him later." I looked up at his grinning face and laughed, too.

"Remember to hide the remains," I giggled.

**Reviews, please, dolls!**


	5. Preparations

**New poll is up! I'll try to write quickly and have their XMAS day on our XMAS day. Until next chappie! REVIEW!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER FIVE: PREPARATIONS

I woke up that morning to the sounds of two arguing voices.

"Bella! Bella, get up, we have to get ready for the party!"

"Quiet, Alice. Go back to sleep, Bella." That was Edward. I would know his voice anywhere, no matter how unconscious I was.

I sat up and looked at the clock—quarter to nine. Lovely—and then to the vampires in my room. Edward had tiny Alice pinned against the wall, trying to keep her from waking me.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked.

Alice slid from Edward's arms and sat on the bed beside me. "We have to get ready for the party, Bella! Come on, we've got to set up and then get dressed!"

I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head, mumbling, "Go away. I don't wanna."

That didn't stop her, of course, from lifting me by the arms and dragging me kicking and screaming—quite literally—into the bathroom.

"Agh, it's too early! Stop it, Alice! I wanna sleep!" Edward tried to stop her, too, but she wouldn't let him in my bathroom while I got ready.

Once I was bathed and dressed, I went downstairs for breakfast. Alice was bouncing and impatient the whole while, so I purposely ate super-slow, causing her to eventually scream and throw half the cereal in the trash. I laughed as she dragged me to the car, Edward trailing behind with a granola bar (he was worried I hadn't eaten enough and insisted on bringing more food).

We arrived and set the house up in less than thirty minutes, thanks to vampire speed—I knew that would happen, which was part of the reason I was angry at being dragged from bed so early.

Then it was time to prep. Yay.

I was kidnapped by Rosalie and Alice into Alice's room, where they worked on me first. They did my eye shadow in a dark, shimmery pink, bloodred lipstick, no blush—I would supply that naturally—and a little bit of eyeliner and mascara. They put a little bit of sparkle lotion on my showing skin so I would match the decorations. My hair was elaborate, of course: it was laced back against my head until it reached my crown. Then it twisted around and fell in perfect curls down my nape. There were little diamonds twisted in all over, and shimmering hairspray kept it in place.

The jewelry was of clear diamonds, of course. My earrings were small teardrops, about a centimeter long. The necklace fell just to my cleavage and was silver-chained with a matching teardrop in the center and two small, round diamonds flanking it. On one wrist, I wore the bracelet Alice chose: it was also silver-chained, but was a charm bracelet with beautiful, diamond-encrusted charms: a bear (for Emmett), a shopping bag (for Alice), a lipstick tube (for Rosalie), a house (for Esme), a scalpel (for Carlisle), a soldier (for Jasper), a lion (for Edward), and a yin-yang broken heart (for me). On my other wrist, I wore the bracelet with the wolf and the crystal heart.

The shoes were two-inch pointed stilettos in shining silver with ballet shoe ribbons around my ankles. I was insured a good leg injury tonight.

Then Rose and Alice did their hair and makeup and we all got dressed. I had to admit, the dress looked good on me. It wasn't blue, but it was very cute. And the bow in front made me look like a Christmas present for Edward.

When Rose and Alice emerged, they looked like they'd been made by the gods. Rose was wearing a pink tube top with rhinestones all over it that covered only her chest and left her flat tummy exposed. The skirt was floor length, also sporting rhinestones, and it started well below the navel. There was a silver sheer fabric (with rhinestones, duh) that fell loosely from her top and billowed around like the skirt. She looked like the god of belly dancers.

And little Alice was in spaghetti-strap dress that was shaded somewhere between emerald and sea green. From just below the bust to right at the navel was a gathered section that looked a bit like a giant ribbon. The underskirt was fitted and reached high-thigh, and the overskirt was like a ballet tutu. The entire thing was shimmery and gorgeous.

I felt majorly inferior.

"Oh my god! You guys look amazing!" I complained.

They came over and hugged me, careful not to mess anyone's hair/ makeup/ dress/ balance (in my case) up. "You look beautiful, Bella," Rose said. "Edward's gonna flip, even if you're _not_ wearing blue."

"Omigoodness, totally!" squealed Alice. We giggled and went downstairs. Somehow, it had become six forty, meaning the party started in twenty minutes. Wow, time flies when you're Barbie Bella.

I heard a small gasp and turned to see Edward looking at me. I blushed to match my dress.

"Hi." He was incredible-looking, as always. He was in an Armani suit (why, god only knows) with his hair in slightly more disarray than usual—but, god, did it look sexy. **[A/N: I'm sorry, I just read like 12 really awesome yaoi. Killah-sama, if you're reading this, you're amazing!**

"You look beautiful, Bella," he said, pulling me into a warm—technically cold, but it felt warm to me—embrace.

"Watch the hair!" Alice yelled. "It took _for—ever_!" She'd made "forever" two different words.

Edward chuckled an apology and loosened his grip. I didn't like this, so I snuggled back.

"What did she _do_ to you?" he laughed upon further examination of my hair.

"I have no idea and I don't want to know, thank you."

"She shaved 'kill the mutt' into your head, you know?"

"Gah! Er—very funny. If you can't say something nice, Edward…" I threatened, recalling Thumper from _Bambi_.

He chuckled. "I'll behave, I promise."

"So, who's even coming to this party?" I asked as he led me to the couch to sit so my feet wouldn't completely melt before the party even started.

"Well…most everyone, really. We invited pretty much all of Forks."

"Holy crap! _Why_!" He simply shrugged, and I sighed, falling back into place on his shoulder. "That girl, I swear…."

Then, the doorbell rang. The first guest had arrived.


	6. Mistletoe

**Have I ever told you lovely reviewers how much I love you? those of you who don't review, I love you immensely, too, but we authors, crazy people that we are, love to hear what people think and therefore love the review button. Thank you!**

**Someone gave a review that was talking about Edward and mistletoe, so here you go, rock goddess 101!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER SIX: MISTLETOE

Esme was the one to open the door. On the porch stood Charlie. I hadn't known he was coming.

"Charlie, hi!" Esme said. "Welcome, come in!" She ushered him in and to a couch. She brought him a glass of eggnog and sat down with him.

"Wow," Charlie said, looking around the enormous house. Same reaction I'd had. "You've got quite a house, here, huh?"

"Dad," I said, "I didn't know you were coming."

"Bella!" Charlie stood when he saw me, and then grunted at the sight of Edward. "When did Edward get back from his camping trip?"

"Just a little while ago, actually, Charlie," Edward answered. "I barely had time to get dressed, in fact."

"Charlie!" Alice had bounced into the room, then, and flung her arms around him. She stepped back and grimaced at his el cheapo suit, but smiled again before Charlie noticed.

The bell rang again and I noticed a doorman suddenly appear. He opened the door to reveal some kids from school, and took their coats. I looked around then, more carefully than before, and noticed the food and drink bars and all the caterers.

After an hour, pretty much everyone was here. I'd noticed they'd all come in groups, but for Charlie, still unconsciously wary of the Cullens.

I saw Angela and Ben on the other side of the room from me and went to talk to them, Edward conjoined to my hip.

"Hey, Angela," I said.

"Bella! There you are! Hi Edward. You've got an amazing house," she said.

"Thank you. Esme works hard to keep it nice." He and Ben began talking, then, and I turned back to Angela.

"What're you doing for the holidays, Angela?" I asked.

"My family's coming up and we're gonna have a big, traditional Christmas."

"Wow. You're family is huge!" I said, remembering the graduation invitations I'd helped her address.

"Yeah, it gets pretty crazy," she laughed.

"Hi, Bella!" I heard someone say. I turned to see Mike.

"Oh, hi, Mike."

He looked up at the ceiling and then back at me. "Well, look at that! Mistletoe!"

Uh-oh. Edward wouldn't like Mike after this. "Oh…yeah…uh…."

"Mike, hi," Edward intervened. I sighed into his arm, which was wrapped, as usual, about my waist. How could Mike still be so hopeful after one glance at us?

"Oh, hey, Cullen," Mike grunted.

"I'm under the mistletoe, too, you know. Would you like to kiss me?" Edward was grinning mischievously. Mike tensed, refused, and left.

"I love you," I said, turning to him.

He chuckled. "I love you, too, love. Now how about that kiss?"

"What?"

"It is tradition, after all." He smiled my favourite crooked grin and leaned in agonizingly slow. My face pinkened and my heart rate picked up.

He kissed me gently, the kind of kiss he used when I was being uncooperative, like that time when I refused to get on his back and let him run. My arms wrapped around his neck, knotting in his hair. I felt his hands on my hips, holding me gently but securely against him.

When he pulled away, my face was flushed and my breathing ragged. Edward whispered, too low for anyone but me to hear, "Shall we continue upstairs?"

I heard a jealous huff from Mike somewhere behind me—that was probably why Edward had been so intense.

Angela giggled. "Wow, Bella, you don't overreact at all!" she teased sarcastically. I gave her a little shove and curled into Edward's arm again.

The party was going well, perfectly according to Alice's arrangements.

_Crash!_

Scratch that—everything but Emmett was perfect.


	7. Dammit, Emmett!

**Wow, you guys apparently looked forward to this a lot! Here you go!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER SEVEN: DAMMIT, EMMETT!

_Crash! Bnng!_

I knew it was Emmett that had broken whatever it was, because who else would it be. Edward's reaction enforced my assumption.

I looked at Edward, who was breathing slowly and had the bridge of his nose trapped between his fingers, telling me that Emmett was either making a complete fool of himself, or Emmett had done something terribly wrong and Edward was going to kill him later…or now, by the looks of the increasing rage in his face.

I tugged his hand and led him to see what had happened.

There stood Emmett in a heap beside the Christmas tree. Beneath him lay the remains of Edward's beautiful piano. Emmett had crushed the forward half and the aft half was leaning into the floor.

I gasped and turned to Edward. I hugged him, trying to calm him down long enough for the party to end. _Then_ he could kill Emmett.

"Oh, Edward, I'm sorry. We'll get you a new one first thing tomorrow," I promised, kissing his hand and holding him tightly. I knew that, if he wanted to, he could easily escape me to murder Emmett, but it wouldn't be smart to do so around all these people, and I had to do what I could to keep their secret safe.

"Uh…hi, Edward, um…what's up?" Emmett fumbled.

Edward took three big, slow breaths, eyes still locked shut, fingers threatening to break his nose.

"I'm…fine…Emmett…and…you?" he forced out through clenched teeth. I noticed the crowd was watching the display fearfully, ready to bolt if things got to dangerous.

Emmett stood, running his hand through his hair nervously. He knew he was a dead man walking **[A/N: pun totally intended!**.

"I'm, uh…I'm gonna go…clean this up…." He turned and went to the kitchen, returning a moment later with a trashcan, broom and dustpan. I saw Edward's eyes widen protectively and sadly at the thought of throwing away his lovely piano. I was beginning to wonder if I should be jealous of this piano.

"No, Emmett, I…! Oh, nevermind. Just be quick." Edward was nearly growling as he walked away, towing me with him. I saw Alice turn on the computer, in search of an exact replica, no doubt.

We were in Edward's room before I knew it, sitting on his couch. He was gripping the armrest with whiter knuckles than ever, and the armrest looked about to crumble under his grip.

I decided to distract him.

I leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek, and trailed kisses along his jaw, up to his ear, down his throat, up and down repeatedly. I would have kissed his collarbones if they hadn't been hidden by his suit.

"Mmm…Bella," he whispered.

"Mmm?" I asked, still kissing him. I moved to his lips and traced my tongue along his gorgeous lower lip.

He pulled back suddenly. "We shouldn't. You said you didn't want to just a few days ago."

I shook my head to clear it and mumbled an agreement. "Sorry. You looked just so sad, and I wanted to distract you."

"Thank you for trying."

"Should I have been jealous of that piano?" I asked suddenly, suspiciously.

He laughed loudly, making me smile. I'd distracted him _and_ made him laugh. That was good. "Oh, Bella, of course not! I love only you!"

"I don't know, Edward, you looked pretty attached to it," I continued to tease.

"Oh yeah?" he said softly, menacingly, leaning in close to my face. I began breathing more quickly and he smiled, satisfied with my reaction. He kissed my nosetip and whispered, "Still jealous?"

"What's jealous?" I asked breathlessly, having all but forgotten our previous conversation.

The door opened, then, something quite compromising: me, leaning back on the armrest Edward hadn't been trying to kill earlier; him, above me, making me breathe hard. I spun my head to see Emmett.

"Er…sorry, guys." He was obviously still afraid of Edward after what had happened to the piano. "Um…the piano's cleaned up…dinnertime for the lovebirds." With that, he ran away before Edward could kill him.

He sighed. "You should eat. Let's go." He grabbed my hand and led me to the dinnertable downstairs.

This was sure to be quite an event….


	8. Halo and Pianos

**Oi, I've been so **_**busy**_** lately, I'm sorry. My internet went down, I've been trying to update for days!**

**By the way, I have no idea when this takes place, really. Some of you, mostly me, have been wondering about the timeplace of this story. I don't understand it either. It's before the wedding, but after ****Eclipse**** because Edward is the one who wants to have sex now, but that makes very little sense, so…anyway, whatever. I don't know.**

**Enjoy! Happy Christmas!**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER EIGHT: HALO & PIANOS

The rest of the party passed mostly without incident. Mike made another pass at me, I tripped and Edward caught me, Edward was trying not to kill Emmett for several reasons (the piano, walking in on us, teasing us about sex, teasing Edward about being the 100-year-old virgin, etc.), Jasper joined in with Emmett's teasing, yadda yadda.

Once everyone was gone, the guys were in jeans in half a second. I looked around and saw them on the couch, Emmett challenging Jasper and Edward to a game of Halo. I quickly changed into my pajamas and sat on the back of the couch, my legs behind Edward's back. I was watching the game, trying to understand it.

I was unsuccessful.

"I don't get it," I said in Edward's ear.

Still playing intensely, he explained, "Basically, you just shoot the heads off the aliens."

"Oh. Is it any fun?"

Emmett gasped in horror at my ignorance. He tossed me an extra control and reset the game. "We're gonna teach you the sacredness of Halo, Bella."

Edward showed me the buttons and what they did, and we were ready.

Emmett had, probably trying to make up for the piano and walking in incidents, set it on easy, making me suck only slightly less.

Needless to say, I died several times before I actually began to understand the controls. Once I was able to comprehend, though, it was actually not that hard and really fun.

I was slamming the buttons, going after Emmett. Suddenly, he died and I heard him mutter a string of profanities, part of which included, "Bella—banned—Halo".

"Did I…just kill Emmett?" I asked, amazed I had that much skill—which wasn't much.

"I think you did, love," Edward said, kissing me. I lost my breath and my head began to spin, but his lips were still on mine.

Then I heard a blast and snapped my head over to see that Edward had killed me. "Hey! Not fair!"

"I'm sorry, love, but 'all's fair in love and war'," he apologized, grinning and looking altogether completely unapologetic. I _harrumphed_ and reset the game, making Edward lose his hard-earned points.

"Hey, that was not nice," he complained, capturing and kissing me along my throat, jaw line and ear.

"Hey…dazzling…stop…air…" I mumbled incoherently. He released me and we began the level again.

I was getting much better at this game. In fact, if they didn't have the vampire advantage, I could be matching them right now.

But, alas, I didn't have their speed and coordination, thus making me a pitiful opponent.

Around midnight, I finally gave up and went to bed, Edward by my side. He hummed my lullaby and I was sleeping in an instant.

**xXx**

I awoke to a shaking bed next morning. I opened my eyes to see Alice bouncing on Edward's bed excitedly.

"What the hell are you doing, Alice?" I asked, annoyed at her.

"The new piano's here! Let's go check it out!" She was grinning like a little child on Christmas morning—which, I realized, would be here in a matter of days.

She stole my wrist and half-dragged me down the stairs.

I was shocked. There, in the _exact_ same spot was the _exact_—exact to the very last scratch, exact—piano that Emmett had destroyed only hours before. On the identical bench sat Edward in the kind of tuxedo you see Bugs Bunny wearing in music-related episodes—long tails and all. Edward had probably had it for years, I realized.

I went and sat beside him on the sleek bench. "Wow," I said, stunned. "Alice is good. How long did it take to find this, Alice?"

"Oh, only an hour or so. It's really easy, if you know what you're doing," she giggled. I shook my head, ever amazed by her shopping abilities.

"What are you going to play as your first song on your new piano?" I asked, looking back to Edward.

"What else?" he grinned, and my lullaby sounded out. I felt my eyes get droopy and my eyes well with tears. I laid my head on Edward's shoulder and listened until it was through.

"That was beautiful," I whispered.

"And it's perfect, of course—no tuning needed. Thank you, Alice," he said in a soft voice that wasn't quite a whisper.

"Am I going to need to be jealous of this piano, too?" I joked. The musical laughter of my vampire family rang out, and I heard Emmett's voice say:

"No doubt about it, Bella!"


	9. Christmas Morn

**Agh! I'm so sorry! My internet died and my computer charger died and I hate my life and I don't mean to make excuses but I'm soooooooo sorry!!! Here's the final chapter of meh story! I hope you enjoy!**

**I'm glad this is a short story, 'cause I'm too ADD to be interested in it anymore.**

**Wondering why Bella has spent the last week with the Cullens and why Charlie has no qualms about it? Me too. If you find the answer, feel free to tell me.**

**-Forbala-**

CHAPTER NINE: CHRISTMAS MORN

It was now Christmas Eve, eleven o'clock, and I was going to bed. Esme was going to lock everyone in their rooms a little while before present time so she and Carlisle could play Santa.

"I don't wanna go to bed," I whined as Edward tucked me in and held me their in his iron grasp.

"You know you need the sleep, love," he said softly, starting my lullaby.

"No fair," I mumbled, for perhaps the trillionth time, before I drifted off.

**xXx**

I woke up to Alice and Emmett tackling me, screaming "Get up! Get up!" and bouncing on my bed with enough force to challenge a California earthquake.

I threw the covers back, yelled, "Screw off!" and then returned to the safety of my blankets and Edward's arms.

"Bella, you should get up before they break something…like the new piano," Edward's silky musical voice whispered in my ear. I groaned and held out his arms so he could cart me downstairs.

"What time is it?" I mumbled into his chest as he began walking.

"You don't want to know, love," he said, a smile in his voice. I groaned again.

"We're here," he told me, setting me down. I blinked and did a double take. The room was filled with presents! Jesus, how much did they spend!

"Edward—! Alice, you—!" I couldn't even speak.

But I didn't have to. Alice thrust about thirty gifts at me and commanded me to open them.

After about an hour of gift opening, I finally was finished and simply lay back on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling. I was totally out of energy.

"Bella?" Edward asked, lifting me up to a sitting position. "Bella, are you okay?"

"Just totally whupped."

"Haha! I told you to go to bed earlier, love! Haha!"

"Bella!" Alice giggled, dancing over to me. "Did you have fun?"

"Best Christmas ever," I grinned.

**Sorry for the crapass ending. I'm not very god about staying attentive and unbored with my stories, haha. I like to compare myself to DaVinci (I can't remember his real last name, haha. I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention in Art Class that day. Whoops!). This way, I sound ingenious, rather than lazy, haha. You see, Leonardo left his projects halfway through oftentimes, like I do, haha, so if I compare myself to him in that respect, I sound artistic and cool.**

**Anyway, you didn't want to hear that, sorry. Well, hope you enjoyed! I've just started a Romeo & Juliet: Twilight version, but I won't start posting it for a while (I'm only one chapter in, haha, and I've been working on it for months, haha), so read that once I post it.**

**Love and chocolate (sorry, I'm craving), **

**Forbala**


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